Not Quite Annoyance
by grannysknitting
Summary: Sherlock wants to show off, Lestrade takes it in his stride, and John gets the giggles


Set after 'Reassurance' – established relationship and mentions of SLASH

**AN –** Scopesmonkey's request was for Anderson to find out about Sherlock's tattoo – and John's response to that…

**Not quite annoyance (Sherlock BBC Fanfic)**

Sherlock was surprised, but it did not take long for the people they worked with to notice the rings. Sherlock had made a point of not quite flashing his under Anderson's nose, as well as Sally's. The Sargent had been especially surprised to see that _John_ had the matching ring and John had given her a very warning look. Lestrade had been pleased – his wife had sent them flowers in what was becoming something of a joke between their households – and had bought Sherlock a jewellery cleaning kit for them, handing it over one evening at the Yard with a long and significant look.

Once a month, Sherlock cleaned their rings, while John watched him. His hand felt naked without John's band on the ring finger and although he knew John took his wedding band off for work, he also knew from the small scratches that the chain John had promised to wear his ring on was in constant use.

It wasn't until Sherlock got his _own_ tattoo that he truly understood the meaning of 'getting under my skin'. The patch of skin above his heart became very sensitive: John only had to lay his left hand on it – through layers of shirt and jacket and coat even – and Sherlock's heart would warm and race, his blood rushing to that spot. If John did it while they were naked or on the way to getting naked there was an immediate reaction in other areas as well. John had told him – with a wicked grin – that the phenomenon was psychosomatic, a condition that Sherlock definitely didn't want cured.

However, Sherlock wasn't pleased that no-one knew about the tattoo. They'd seen John's once – at a crime scene where his spouse had taken off the rubber gloves required by SOCCO and stood talking with Lestrade for a moment before fishing his ring out of his pocket and slipping it back on. Sally had made a fuss and John had shot her down – in one of the harshest uses of tone and language he'd ever deployed against a member of the official police force. Lestrade had intervened by sending Donovan away, frowning at John for a moment before dismissing the incident.

Part of the problem is that Sherlock knew that some people at Yard didn't take his and John's relationship seriously – and therefore felt that it was fair game in any disagreement that occurred during a case. Ordinarily Sherlock would ignore the taunts and jabs, because he had the support of John at his side, but on the rare occasions that John was at work instead of a crime scene, those little jabs seemed to stick. Lestrade was his biggest supporter then – which came as a shock to Sherlock, because it seemed the DI considered him as more than a pest at times – but even he and the DI had their falling outs and misunderstandings from time to time. The last time that had happened had led to Sherlock sitting on a roof, brooding and John coming to find him – which had ended in Sherlock getting the tattoo.

The solution to the whole situation was for the Yard to realise that Sherlock carried John under his skin now – though there were very few situations where taking his shirt off and showing them his chest would be considered appropriate. Despite John's claims otherwise, Sherlock didn't get hurt that often on a case and so far none of his injuries had required baring his chest for treatment. Therefore, Sherlock would simply have to _manufacture_ a situation where he had to bare his chest in public but not make John upset at him for doing so. When John was properly upset he also wasn't in the mood – a situation to be avoided at all costs.

For a genius such as Sherlock, it took only a week to decide upon how to manoeuvre events to allow him to take off his shirt without getting arrested for public indecency – he didn't put it past Donovan to try – and without making John upset. He required a confluence of several factors – he'd rather be indoors where the witnesses could be limited, and Anderson had to be there – so it took a few more weeks before his plan could be put into action. Once it was, the waiting and the plotting were more than amply rewarded.

Sherlock, John and Lestrade were gathered in the DI's office, reviewing the evidence for their latest case. Donovan was there, throwing her usual less-than-helpful remarks into the mix. The DI discovered that several details were missing from Anderson's reports and had called the man in to explain and or provide them. Anderson was stalking across the office with a pile of reports in hand and his usual lukewarm tea – disgusting – in the other so Sherlock had got up to open the door for the man in a rare fit of helpfulness. It was a moment's work to trip Anderson subtly, thus receiving a chest-full of tea.

Success! Sherlock made an indignant noise and unbuttoned his shirt rapidly, holding the soaking material away from his skin while the others in the office fussed. Sherlock made sure that Anderson got a good look at the tattoo, and waited for the reaction. If it was good enough he was planning to hack into the Yard's camera server and post the clip on YouTube.

Anderson did a classic double take, his jaw dropping, eyes bulging and neck flushing. He actually stammered for a moment, before pointing to the initials that marked Sherlock's heart and then spluttered in an indecipherable way. Sally finally caught on that there was something amiss and took a glance for herself, actually squinting for a moment, then opening her eyes wide with shock and looking quickly away. There was a quiet click in the background that Sherlock couldn't quite place, but he was distracted by Lestrade approaching from his right.

"Here Sherlock," Lestrade sounded tired, handing Sherlock some tissues with an expression of not quite annoyance, "Nice tat."

"Thanks," Sherlock replied smugly, smirking at Anderson for good measure. The twit actually went _pale_. Sherlock swabbed the initials fastidiously and then John was there, doing his shirt buttons up and ignoring his protests with a patient look. There was mirth twinkling in his eyes though, and his jaw was set in a way that suggested he was trying to control himself.

"Come on, we'll get you cleaned up," John latched a hand around Sherlock's wrist and towed him from Lestrade's office, threading rapidly through the office and out into the hall that led to the men's room. His shoulders were beginning to shake and Sherlock was starting to worry that he'd been Not Good as they stepped into the empty loos. John dropped Sherlock's wrist with a gasp and leaned against the door, choking on his giggles and little snorts of amusement, tears running down his flushed face.

Sherlock smirked at his spouse and turned on the tap, using a handful of paper towels to blot at the worst of the tea stain while John slid down the door to the floor, mirth spilling out of him.

"Ohhhh did you see his _face_?" John spluttered, "Priceless!"

Sherlock patted his shirtfront dry and washed his hands before going over to his spouse and pulling him up off the surprisingly clean floor. John was still giggling a little as he went to wash his own hands, squaring his shoulders and taking deep, slow breaths to regain control. Sherlock's phone chimed with a message and he pulled it out, frowning when he realised that Lestrade had sent him an attachment.

It was a picture of Anderson and Sally's faces. The phone nearly fell into the sink at the force of Sherlock's laughter.

**END**

Disclaimer – characters and settings as depicted in BBC series not mine. No money being made. Plot is mine.

Hope you liked it SM!


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